Alright i live in northeast north carolina. I also wanna make this clear i am not a new duck hunter i have blinds on the open river I hunt most of the season but just came across some land and would like to have a walk in spot that i dont have to trailer the boat too every morning i wanna hunt. I have 20 Acres of land roughly 1/4 is dry land we deer hunt and the rest is flooded timber ; cypress, tupelos, and gums. I have found a spot thats roughly 400 yards from a open river a decent sized river too. My main question is how big should the hole be. I have been sitting in the stand and had woodies buzz by my head in the thick woods so i know their in there but im not sure what size is a good size for the mallards and bigger migratory birds im not used to hunting a whole lot of flooded timber and this stuff is thick. Right now the spot is about 50 yards long by 20 to 25 yards wide i left a few tres standing and cut the rest off bout waist high to give cover and some handholds when transiting to and from picking ducks up. Second question is is there anything i can get back there this late in the season to make them wanna be in there opposed to putting corn in before season and hoping they come back after its gone. Only down side is all deer season its been filled up bout knee deep now its a slop hole with barely any water im hoping a shift in wind will fill her back up. I appreciate any help in advanced thanks guys.

I grew up hunting nc swamps much like what you have pictured. That hole looks about the same size of any hole I would hunt off the river. But being directly off the river is clutch. You said this hole is 400 from the river but it is a direct shot to the river or is it surrounded by the timber on all sides? I've had birds dump into holes that size but it is usually because they are flying up the river And just drop into a hole off the main run. Hard to get them to drop into small holes like that not connected to the river Also I would cut those punji sticks down to the mud. Those things will literally be a pain in the balls if your water level goes above waste high. Just a thought. Good luck with it. Looks like a sweet chunk of land.

you can see where the sunlight is hitting the trees thats where the river is its not directly on the river i walked to the river today and its not that far but is hard as all can be to get too not trying to wade through that mess in the morning this spot is right where the woods meet the swamp and the whol swamp has no water just mud theres a couple few creeks running through it but other than that shes dry maybe not 400 yards but not right on the river either